The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 8

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8 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

Morgan Siding Indian Mission Church.

November 6, 1932, was a day of joy and thanks-
giving for our recently organized Indian congrega-
tion at Morgan Siding, Wisconsin. On this day it
was permitted by God’s grace to dedicate its ex-
cellent little chapel to the glory and service of the
Triune God. The members of this small flock had
hoped and prayed that the Lord would soon bless
them with a church home, and the Lord answered
their prayer beyond their fondest hopes.

The size of the building is 26X40, with a seating
capacity of about 150. A large basement gives
ample room for the Sunday-school and for the
meetings of our organizations. The cost of the
building, everything included, was about $1,200.

The dedicatory service was conducted by the
undersigned, pastor of the mission. Three services
were held during the day, at which President
H. Daib and Pastor W.Speckhard and N. Uhlig
spoke appropriate and inspiring words. Each ser-
vice was attended by about 200 persons.

The first Lutheran service at Morgan Siding was
conducted in a private home by the Rev. R. Kretz-
mann in 1902. From that time until 1930 our
Morgan Siding Lutherans were served by the mis-
sionaries from our Red Springs mission. In 1930
the undersigned was called to serve Morgan Siding
and Neopit. In 1931 the schoolhouse, in which ser-
vices had been conducted since 1907, was closed for
religious purposes by a resolution of the public-
school board. For some time, services were held in
the home of one of our members; but when the
place proved too small, it was necessary to move
into an open-air dance pavilion. Ther, in July of
this year, when the officers of our North Wisconsin
District had looked over the field, they immediately
took steps to erect a much-needed chapel. The sum
of $1,000 was loaned to our congregation by the
District Board, which, together with funds in our
ladies’ aid’s treasuries and liberal donations of land
and furnishings by friends of our mission, made
possible our present building.

The congregation at the present time numbers
9 yoting and 35 communicant members, with a
Sunday-school enrolment of 42. In the offing is
a good-sized confirmation class.

May the Lord, our God, without whose blessing
nothing can prosper, bless this mission in Morgan
Siding, so that by the proclamation of His Word in
this newly erected Bethel many may come to the
saving knowledge of His love in Christ Jesus.

L. J. Dav, in the Messenger.

New Dormitory at Vadakangulam, India.

Our church-papers are carrying few dedication
stories these days. The reason is so obvious that
I need not mention it at all. It is not quite so
obvious, however, that the Lord is prompting many
a Christian man and woman to step into the breach
to avert serious injury to some phases of missionary
endeavor, thus acting according to the word of God,
“Bear ye one another’s burdens.” A case in point is
the new dormitory erected at Vadakangulam, fifteen
miles from the tip of South India.

Vadakangulam is a station where, since 1916, we
have been carrying on our work not among the out-
castes, but almost exclusively among the middle and
lower-middle castes of the Tinnevelly District. The
first missionary was A. J. Lutz; but hardly had he
built himself a bungalow in 1924 when he was trans-
ferred to Nagercoil, where he is now at the head of
the theological seminary, the new buildings of which
were dedicated a few months ago. The next mis-
sionary was the undersigned. When I went on
furlough in 1930, the station was taken over .by
C. L. Rittmann, who during my furlough erected
the second bungalow here. Since my return from
America the two of us are sharing the work and the
responsibility. And the progress we can record of
the station is sufficient justification for the addition
of the second man. For we have an important
system of educational institutions here which, if we
wanted to make the most of them, could no longer
be handled by one man, even though he had quite
a staff of Indian brethren as assistants.

The high school at Vadakangulam is the para-
mount consideration. Several hundred boys and
about a dozen girls, Hindus and Christians, are
learning to know, or to know better, the Savior of
the world and also of the people of India. But that
is a topic for itself.

Now, a high school is an expensive institution ;
true, not nearly as expensive as a high school
operated in America, but expensive nevertheless.

We cannot operate a high school at every place .

where we have a considerable number of Christians
and where the missionary prospects may be called
bright. On the other hand, we cannot restrict the
benefits of such an education to those who live
within walking distance of the place where a high
school does exist. The solution of this problem is
the boarding-house, which is a complex of buildings
enabling so and so many Christian boys from distant
places to enjoy higher education. It is a pity that
these boys (or girls) cannot be at home during their